Assembler control equipment for type line casting machines



Jan. 20, 1953 J. R. BROUGHER ASSEMBLER CONTROL EQUIPMENT FOR TYPE LINECASTING MACHINES s Sheet-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 10, 1949 ana 90L 1?. L wzc/bf v arrow/5;.

Jan. 20, 1953 J. R. BROUGHER ASSEMBLER CONTROL EQUIPMENT FOR TYPE LINECASTING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 10. 1949 71 E- EM v 8 I L I70% m2 v K L m lllllll'lu w W q H N 2 m f Jan. 20, 1953 J, R. BROUGHER2,626,043

ASSEMBLER CONTROL EQUIPMENT FOR TYPE LINE CASTING MACHINES Filed Jan.10, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FT'Q 1.

Patented Jan. 29, 1953 UNITED STATS ASSEMBLER oo 'rnoL EQUIPMENT nonTYPE LINE oas'rrno MAonrNas 3 Claims.

This invention relates to assembler control equipment for type linecasting machines.

An object of the invention is to provide novel means for controlling theassembler, wherein the matrices are assembled by the operator withoutdiversion from the copy or interference with the operation of the keysof the keyboard.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a typeline'asse-inbling' machine, such as those known'by' the trade name ofLinotype, or similar machine, an assembler elevating mechanism which,when released by the operator, will automatically elevate the assemblerand return it to original, or set, position in readiness for theelevation of the succeeding line of matrices.

The invention is of such construction that the operator may devote hisentire attention to the copy and the keyboard Without, substantially,diverting his attention to the operation of the assembler,

The invention also includes what is hereinafter defined as a send-insafety device. This safety device is a matrices aligner whicheffectively aligns the matrices preparatory to the transfer of thematrix assembly in the usual and customary manner, common to type lineassembling machines, to complete the casting process.

It is a further object of the invention to provide, in a machine of thecharacter described, a send in safety device for the purpose specifiedbut which may be rendered inactive without detachment from the machine.

Other objects and advantages will be disclosed by the followingspecification which is illustrated by the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a fragmentary front elevation of a line casting machine suchas those known by the trade names Linotype or Intertype illustrating theimprovements which form the subject matter of the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged elevational view of a send-in safety device. 7

Figure 3 is a sectional View thereof taken on the line 3 -3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4.- is an enlarged transverse sectional View taken on the line 44of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a plan view, partly in section of the assembler elevatingmechanism.

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view thereof taken iie l ne fi-fi 9f F gFiggre 7 is a gross sectional View thereof taken ontb ine'l-l Fig reFigure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view thereof taken on the line 8-3of Figure 5 and Figure, 9 an end view thereof viewed as indicated by theline 9-9 of Figure 5 Referring now more particularly to the drawingswherein like numerals of reference designate similar parts in each ofthe figures, the numeral I designates the main frame of the assemblerelevating mechanism which, in the present illustration, is in the formof a bar having the forward and rearward upturned ends 2, 3. Theextremities of these upturned ends have the diagonal faces d and 5 whichare pitched in opposite directions, the face f being pitched down wardlyto the left and the face 5 being pitched downwardly to the right.

The frame l is provided with marginal notches 6, G to receive the bolts1, TI which upstand from a shelf-like projection of the main frame 8 ofthe type line assembling machine and said frame I is secured in positionby suitable nuts 8a, 8a which are screwed onto the upstanding bolts I.

The frame I supports a shaft 9 which is rotatable in bearings in theupstanding ends 2, 3, as shown in Figures 5 and 7.

On the shaft 9 are the ratchet wheels Iii, II, each having a singletooth as I2 and I3 pitched in opposite directions. The ratchet wheel Illis loosely mounted on the shaft to rotate independently thereof but theratchet wheel II is fixed to the shaft to rotate therewith. The ratchetwheel It is retained on the shaft by means of a suitable collar I lwhich is suitably secured in place.

Fastened to the shaft 9, adjacent the upturned end 2 of the frame Ithere is a laterally extended arm I5 and pivoted to the outer end ofsaid arm there is a lever I6 whose free end extends over the shaft 9 andis provided with an outwardly extended roller H which rides on thesloping face d and which is positioned to be engaged by ratchet toothI2. The roller I1 is held in yielding contact with face 4 by means of acoil spring, or other tension member I60, which connects lever It toframe I.-

At the other end of shaft 9 there is a bar l8 which is provided with anoblong longitudinal slot I9 through which the shaft 9 extends and thereis a lever 20 which is pivoted, at one end, to the bar I8 and whichextends across the shaft 9 in adjacent relation with the ratchet wheel II and mounted on, and extending outwardly from, the lever 20 there is aroller 2| which rides on the sloping face 5 and which is engageable withthe ratchet tooth I3.

The free end of the lever gills connected to the corresponding end ofthe bar I8 by meansof a suitable coil spring, or other elastic tiemember 22.

Attached to the shaft 9, intermediate its ends there is an arm 23 whichextends out laterally from said shaft, to the left, in the presentillustration, and attached to the free end of said arm, at one end,there is a coil spring 24 whose other end extends upwardly and isattached to the main frame of the machine '8.

Pivotally connected to the end of the bar I8, remote from the slot I9,there is a clamp arm 25 which is formed into a clamp 26 which is fittedaround the hub 21 that is secured on a lever 23 of the main type lineassembling machine. This lever 28 oscillates back and forth so as tomove the bar I8 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 7 whenthe line of assembled matrices is transferred toward the left in thefront part of the main machine and which moves said her I3 in theopposite direction when transfer at the front of the main machinereturns to original, or starting, position; upon movement of the bar I8to the right, as above explained, following the transfer of the line tothe left at the front of the machine, the roller 2| drops behind theratchet tooth I3 and when the bar I8 is moved in the opposite direction,upon return of the transfer in front of the machine, the roller 2Iengages against said ratchet I3 and thus rotates the shaft 9, thusmoving the arm 23 downwardly and placing the spring 24 under tension.

There is a U-shaped bracket 29 one end of which is fastened to theratchet wheel I6 and whose other end is extended and secured to saidextended end there is an arm 30 which is preferably arcuate anddownwardly curved as shown in Figure 9.

There is a rod 3| pivotally connected, at its lower end, to the free endof the arm 36 and at its upper end to the lower end of the assembler 32as shown in Figure 1. This rod 3| is provided with a turn buckle 33 forproper adjustments; this turn buckle 33 is adjusted so that when theassembler 32 reaches the required limit of its upward movement theroller H has moved upwardly along the sloping face 4 until it clears theratchet tooth I2 thus releasing the ratchet wheel I6 permitting thebracket 29, arm 30 and attached assembler to drop back to originalposition by gravity. Ratchet wheel I0, bracket 29, arm 36 and rod 3Iform an elevator.

There is a depending bracket 34 secured to a suitable part of the mainmachine, as shown in Figure 6, which is provided with a forwardlydirected vertical flange 35 to which a trigger 36 is pivotallyconnected. The free end of this trigger works through a vertical slot3'! in the bracket 34 and when the assembler is in its lower positionsaid trigger engages over the arm 30 to hold said arm in its lowerposition. The latch 36 is extended upwardly and turned forwardly, asshown in Figure 6, and terminates in an upstanding lever 38. Thisconstruction holds the latch by gravity, through slot 31 and in armengaging position, as shown in Figure 6. But upon movement ofthe lever38 rearwardly, that is in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure6, the latch will be released; however, when the assembler 32 drops downby gravity, as hereinabove indicated, the arm 30 will contact thedownwardly and rearwardly tapered end 36a of the trigger and will movethe trigger outwardly passing beneath it whereupon the trigger willengage above said arm and again latch it in its lower position, with theroller I1 behind the ratchet I2; the machine is then ready for againplacing the spring 24 under tension upon movement of the bar I8 to theleft thus causing the ro l to engage the ratchet I 3 to rotate theratchet wheel II and shaft 9 to impart this tension to the spring 24.

Secured to the lower end of the bar 34 there is a guide 39 which extendsupwardly and is spaced from the bar 34 thus forming a guideway in whichthe arm 36 moves.

As illustrated the assembler 32 is in its lower position to receive theline of matrices 40 in accordance with the operation of the keys of thekeyboard, by the operator. In this position the arm 36 is latched in itslower position until a line of matrices has been completed. Uponcompletion of the line the operator merely moves lever 38 rearwardly, asindicated by th arrow in Figure 6. The operator can easily operate thelever 38 without diverting his mind from the copy or from the keyboardand, with an experienced operator, this action can take placesubstantially automatically on the part of the operator. The spring 2d,being under tension, will thereupon rotate the shaft 9 in a clockwisedirection thus elevating the free end of the arm 15 resulting in acorresponding movement of the lever I6 and roller I7, said rolleroperating against the tooth l2 to rotate the ratchet wheel III with theresult that the arm 36 will be swung upwardly and, through the rod 3!,will lift the assembler 32 while the roller I7 rides up along the face 4and is elevated until said roller I1 is released by the tooth I2whereupon the assembler 32 will descend to its original line-receivingposition by gravity thus forcing the arm 36 downwardly into positionunderneath the latch 36, as shown in Figure 6, whereby the assemblerwill be latched in its lower position and meanwhile the bar It will havemoved to the left with the roller 2I engaging the ratchet tooth I3 andpartially rotating the ratchet wheel II and shaft 9 in an anti-clockwisedirection to again place the spring 24 under tension and to carry theroller I1 back into position to engage behind the tooth I2 whereupon themachine will be in readiness to again lift the assembly upon completionof a line of matrices and upon operation of the lever 38.

Upon elevation of the assembler to the limit of its upward movement theline of matrices is transferred in the usual and customary manner commonto Linotype or Intertype machines to complete the casting process.

It is very desirable that the matrice remain in substantially transversealignment during, and particularly at the end of, the upward movement ofthe assembler. In machines now in common use the matrices often fail toseat properly when they are dropped into the assembler; also even thoughthe matrices are properly seated in the assembler at the beginning ofits upward movement it sometimes happens that some of the matrices moveon upwardly out of alignment upon sudden stoppage of the assemblerparticularly if the assembler is sent up too swiftly. In either event ifone or more of the matrices project above the level of the line of thematrices in the assembler the elevated matrices hang against theentrance of the receiving channel when the transfer carries the line ofmatrices to the left. This either stops the transfer and the operatormust spend considerable time disengaging the hanging matrices andaligning them; or if the resistance is not sumcient to stop the transferthe out-of-line matrix is bent or marred and if it then goes through thecasting cycle and is carried to the top of the machinethrough thedistributor unit and dropped back into th top of the magazine thedamaged matrix or matrices will hang in the magazine thus causing anaccumulation of matrices until the channel is filled and the distributoris stopped. Thereupon, the operator must spend considerable timeremoving all the matrices down to the damaged one which must be removed.This causes considerable loss of time as well as loss of matrices.

In order to assure the proper alignment of the matrices in the assemblerat the termination of the upward movement of the assembler specialequipment has been provided as shown in detail in Figures 2, 3 and 4wherein the numeral 4| designates a supporting frame which is secured,at the proper elevation, to the type line assembling machine. This frameextends transversely of the machine and at its end adjacent theassembler track is the forwardly directed spaced lugs 42, 42a. There isa send-in safety bar 43 which is shown in plan view in Figure 3 and infront elevation in Figure 2. This bar has an integral hinge member 43awhich fits between the lugs 42, 42a and is pivotally mounted by means ofa suitable setscrew 44 passing through said lugs. This send-in bar 43may be swung into active position into alignment with the frame 4| asshown in Figure 3 during the ordinary type-setting work; however, as itis pivoted on the setscrew 44 it may be swung around to the left intoinactive position when mixed lines of black face and light face matricesare sent in for the reason that the black face portion of the lineautomatically rides higher in the assembler than the light face line andin such circumstances the send-in bar cannot be used.

It will be noted, particularly from an inspection of Figure 4, that thebar 43 is provided, on its under side, with a longitudinal groove 45 toconform to the shape of the adjacent ends of the matrices 40 and saidbar is also adjusted to the machine so that when a line is sent up withthe matrices in normal fully seated position there will be a slightclearance on both sides and at the top .between the space-bands and thealigning bar 43 and the space-bands will not touch said bar as the lineis transferred; however, if the matrices are elevated above the normalposition they will come into contact, when the assembler is elevated,with the bar 43 and, will be pushed back into their proper position soas not to hang at the entrance of the transfer channels.

Thus the operator is relieved of manually aligning the matrices in theassembler and mentally relieved from the danger which would otherwise beincidental to the operation of the machine in case the matrices are notproperly aligned, to the end that the operator can concentrate hisefforts on the copy and on the keyboard thus making the work of theoperator much easier and increasing the volume and accuracy of his work.It is here noted that the send-in assembly disclosed in detail inFigures 2, 3 and 4 may be used either in conjunction with, orindependently of, the assembler elevating mechanism disclosed in detailin Figures 5 to 9 inclusive.

The drawings and description are illustrative merely and it is to beunderstood that the invention is not restricted to the precise formshown and described but the .broad principle of the invention will bedefined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a type line casting machine, a vertically movable assembleradapted to receive and elevate a line of matrices, and a send-in safetybar above, and in vertical alignment with, the assembler .and having alongitudinal groove in its underside shaped to receive the adjacent endsof matrices in the assembler said bar being engageable with matrices inthe assembler which are elevated above normal position to restore theelevated matrices to normal position, upon termination of the upwardmovement of the assembler. 5

2. In a type line casting machine, a vertically movable assembleradapted to receive and elevate a line of matrices, and a send-in safetybar above, and in vertical alignment with, the assembler and having alongitudinal groove in its underside disposed to receive the adjacentends of matrices in the assembler said bar being disposed to clearmatrices which are in normal position in the assembler and to engagematrices which are elevated above normal position and restore theelevated matrices to normal position, upon termination of the upwardmovement of the assembler, said bar being pivoted so that it may beswung into inactive position.

3. In a type line casting machine, a send-in safety bar which is mountedto be swung horizontally into an active position in vertical alignmentwith, and above, the assembler of the machine and which may be swunginto an inactive position out of such alignment said bar having alongitudinal groove adapted to guidingly receive the adjacent ends ofmatrices in the assembler when the bar is in said active position and toengage matrices in the assembler which are elevated above normalposition therein and restore the elevated matrices to normal position.

JOHN R. BROUGHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

I UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

